Page 35 of Every Beautiful Mile

Last night, we arrived in Sedona so late all we could see was darkness. Now, the morning light effortlessly reveals the hidden magic.

Red rocks shoot up across the horizon, rugged and beautiful. The fire-filled sunrise bathes everything in oranges, reds, and pinks, magnifying the colors already there.

Living on the Florida coast my whole life, I’ve become accustomed to the easy kind of beauty that saltwater and palm trees create. It’s a straightforward escape that offers a sort of peace by just existing. But this? This is different. It’s not a beauty that offers an escape—it strips the soul bare before shattering it apart and stitching it back together differently. It’s all encompassing. A place you go to feel something.

Our site is on the slope of a mountain overlooking Sedona, which sits like a city in a terracotta bowl.

Straight across from me, where the valley makes way to the sharp cliffs, the red rocks lift out of the dirt as if willed to do so by the sun itself.

Growing up going to church, I was taught that nothing is more holy than those four walls on Sundays, but standing here feels like more of a religious sacrament than anything I’ve ever been privy to. Like the holiest hymn is being sung, and the most reverent prayer is being recited.

At the edge of our site is a large rock that overlooks it all and I wander over to it and sit, not taking my eyes off the scene around me.

“Mom?” Marin calls as she opens the door and rubs her eyes sleepily.

“Over here,” I say over my shoulder.

“Whoa,” she whispers as she sits on the rock next to me. “This is what we were missing in the dark? This is so cool.”

Her eyes dance around the bowl of Sedona as she wraps part of my blanket around her shoulders.

“Amazing, right?”

Finn joins us, cup of coffee in hand. “Your coffee skills haven’t improved,” he says blandly before blowing on the steam.

“It’s not that bad,” I argue, trying to hide the way my face wants to twist as I take another sip.

“Liar.” He tilts his head toward the view I’ve already started to memorize. “This is pretty sweet though.”

I nod.

We sit there in silence as the sun lifts higher in the sky and reveals new details with every ray of light. An old friend whispering new secrets.

Eventually, our bad coffee goes cold, and the cool air turns hot. We spend the day hiking through the vibrant red rocks and then wandering the busy streets of Sedona.

Travis may have been the one who circled this spot on a map, but it’s Marin who’s obsessed with every mystical piece of it.

“Here,” she says, dropping a bright blue stone in Finn’s hands after dragging us into a New Age crystal shop.

He huffs. “What’s this supposed to be?”

“Lapiz. For enlightenment.” She says it like he’s supposed to understand that.

His eyes narrow.

“So, you can finally see what a dirty hooker Abby was.”

I have to bite my cheek to keep from laughing.

“Mom, this one’s for you.”

She holds up a black stone with an orange line through it.

“Do I even want to know?” I ask as she drops it in my hand.

“Tiger’s eye. It will help with…” She waves her hand up and down my body. “Courage.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I don’t even attempt to hide my offense.

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